Research shows that that these characteristics ran in the family, and that Tutankhamun’s parents were definitely siblings. (In ancient Egypt it was believed that incest kept the bloodline pure.) He also may have suffered from inherited temporal lobe epilepsy, which could be why he and his relatives were known for having religious visions. Source

On this day in 1922, Pharaoh “King Tut” Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in Egypt’s Valley of Kings. Known for restoring traditional religion and art, King Tut ruled the 18th dynasty in ancient Egypt (1333 – 23 BCE) and died at the young age of 19.

Tutankhamun’s beautiful golden mask, the embodiment of a man secure in his power, has been flattering the pharaoh for many centuries, according to the most detailed image yet of the teenage king’s face and body.

In the flesh, King Tut had a club foot, a pronounced overbite and girlish hips, says a “virtual autopsy” built using more than 2,000 computerized tomography (CT) scans of the pharaoh’s body. Learn more

On this day in 1922, British archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon were the first to enter King Tut’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.

Carter discovered a step leading to a mud-brick door that revealed a passageway to the untouched, four-room tomb for more than 3,000 years. The excavation yielded thousands of cultural objects and the most fascinating was a stone sarcophagus containing three coffins and the mummified body of teenage King Tut.